Dismantled

A Novel

About the Book

“An eerie and gripping tale of suspense….A triumph.”—Boston Globe

The author of the New York Times bestseller Island of Lost Girls, Jennifer McMahon returns with Dismantled—a stunning and chilling thriller that further burnishes her reputation as, “One of the brightest new stars of literary suspense” (Los Angeles Times online). Stewart O’Nan, author of Songs for the Missing, calls Dismantled, “A fun, twisty thriller. Expect comparisons to The Secret History.” Readers of Laura Lippman, Tana French, and Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones will not be able to shake this breathtaking tale of the dark consequences of a group of college friends’ belief that all things—and people—must be taken apart to be truly understood.

Book Description

The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Island of Lost Girls and Promise Not to Tell returns with a chilling novel in which the secrets of the past come back to haunt a group of friends in terrifying ways.

Dismantlement = Freedom

Henry, Tess, Winnie, and Suz banded together in college to form a group they called the Compassionate Dismantlers. Following the first rule of their manifesto—"To understand the nature of a thing, it must be taken apart"—these daring misfits spend the summer after graduation in a remote cabin in the Vermont woods committing acts of meaningful vandalism and plotting elaborate, often dangerous, pranks. But everything changes when one particularly twisted experiment ends in Suz's death and the others decide to cover it up.

Nearly a decade later, Henry and Tess are living just an hour's drive from the old cabin. Each is desperate to move on from the summer of the Dismantlers, but their guilt isn't ready to let them go. When a victim of their past pranks commits suicide—apparently triggered by a mysterious Dismantler-style postcard—it sets off a chain of eerie events that threatens to engulf Henry, Tess, and their inquisitive nine-year-old daughter, Emma.

Is there someone who wants to reveal their secrets? Is it possible that Suz did not really die—or has she somehow found a way back to seek revenge?

Full of white-knuckle tension with deeply human characters caught in circumstances beyond their control, Jennifer McMahon's gripping story and spine-tingling plot prove that she is a master at weaving the fear of the supernatural with the stark realities of life.

Educator and Librarian Resources

Critical Praise

“Outstanding...By alternating the present-day lives with the origins of the Dismantlers, McMahon allows the inexorable sense of dread to build incrementally. Perhaps most memorable are not the young artists but Emma, a child whose intense imagination only adds fuel to the slow-burning fire.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A failed marriage. A long-buried secret. A lonely child’s imaginary friend. From these simple ingredients, Jennifer McMahon has constructed a fun, twisty thriller. Expect DISMANTLED to earn comparisons to THE SECRET HISTORY.” —Stewart O’Nan, author of SONGS FOR THE MISSING

“One of the brightest new stars of literary suspense.” —Los Angeles Times (online)

“In her third, elegantly spooky mystery revolving around the vulnerability of a young girl and a haunting past, McMahon fashions a fresh and entrancing ghost-in-the-woods tale replete with startling psychoses, delectable Hitchcockian motifs, and dangerous attractions.” —Booklist

“McMahon’s gift is the deliciously twisty way she subverts all your expectations, keeping you guessing with wry wit and feverish chills.” —People

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